The present invention relates in general to integrated circuitry and in particular to method and circuitry for implementing programmable on-chip termination resistance with DC voltage level control.
When transmitting signals over distances appreciable with respect to the signal period, mismatches between the impedance of the transmission line and that of the receiver cause signal reflection. The reflected signal interferes with the transmitted signal and causes distortion and degrades the overall signal integrity. To minimize or eliminate the unwanted reflection, transmission lines are resistively terminated by a matching impedance. Conventionally, the input and output pins on an integrated circuit package are terminated by coupling an external termination resistor of, e.g., 50 Ohm value to the relevant pins. For many of today""s high speed integrated circuits, and particularly those that have large I/O pin counts, external termination poses a number of problems. At high frequencies, for example, the effects of package parasitics cannot be ignored making the reduction of external terminals (package pins or stubs) desirable. Interconnect paths on a circuit board as well as inside the package contribute to the parasitics increasing the delay in signal propagation. It is desirable therefore to implement the termination resistance on-chip to eliminated some of the parasitics. On-chip termination also reduces the number of external components.
Depending on the circuit application, there are a number of other factors that need to be considered when designing the termination structure. For example, over time, various data signaling techniques have developed to facilitate low voltage high speed signal transmission. Low voltage differential signaling (LVDS), current mode logic (CML), and low voltage pseudo emitter coupled logic (LVPECL) are examples of fully differential signaling techniques, while GTL, SSTL, HSTL are examples of pseudo differential signaling. The signal levels at the interface have not been standardized for every type of signaling technique. For example, LVPECL is a widely used signaling technique that has not been standardized resulting in many different vendor definitions for the signal levels at the interface. An on-chip termination resistance that is optimized for a signaling interface defined by one vendor may not provide optimum termination for another.
Another consideration is the output DC level in systems that use AC coupling at the I/O interface. AC coupling techniques that are typical of high speed communication channels require a biasing network at the receiver to provide a proper DC level for the received signal. For an on-chip differential termination resistance, proper DC biasing is needed.
It is therefore desirable to provide an on-chip termination structure that not only reduces external components and enhances data rate, but that is flexible enough to interface with varying signaling techniques as well as providing appropriate DC biasing when needed.
The present invention provides various techniques for implementing circuits and systems having highly flexible I/O circuitry with programmable on-chip termination and DC level adjustment. In one embodiment, the invention utilizes a combination of resistors and transistors functioning as programmable resistors that couple across a differential pair of interface nodes to form programmable differential termination resistance. In another embodiment, the invention takes advantage of existing circuit resources at input and output terminals of an integrated circuit to implement near-end and far-end termination. In a specific embodiment, the present invention allows pull-up and pull-down transistors that are normally used to implement an output buffer or an input buffer to be programmed to implement near-end (in case of output buffers) and far-end (in case of input buffers) termination. In yet another specific embodiment, the invention uses pull-up and pull-down transistors of the input and output buffers to programmable shift the DC level and the operating voltage range of a differential driver.
Accordingly, in one embodiment, the present invention provides an integrated circuit including core logic configured to process data; and an interface circuit coupled between the core logic and a first external terminal, wherein the interface circuit includes a first pull-up path and a first pull-down path both coupled to the first external terminal, and programming circuitry coupled to the first pull-up path and the first pull-down path that is capable of programming the first pull-up path and the first pull-down path to process data in a first mode of operation, or to implement termination impedance in a second mode of operation.
In a specific embodiment, the interface circuit further includes a second pull-up path and a second pull-down path both coupled to a second external terminal; and a differential buffer coupled to the first external terminal and the second external terminal, wherein in the first mode of operation the differential buffer is disabled and the first and second pull-up and pull-down paths process data, and in the second mode of operation the differential buffer is enabled and the first and second pull-up and pull-down paths can be programmed to implement termination impedance. In a further specific embodiment according to the invention, in the second mode of operation, the first and second pull-up and pull-down paths can be programmed to shift a DC level of the first and second external terminals, respectively.
In another embodiment the present invention provides an integrated circuit including core logic configured to process data; and an interface circuit coupled between the core logic and an external terminal, wherein the interface circuit includes a first buffer having a pull-up transistor and a pull-down transistor both coupled to the first external terminal, and a second buffer coupled to the external terminal, and wherein when the first buffer is enabled the pull-up and pull-down transistors process data, and when the second buffer is enabled the pull-up and pull-down transistors can be programmably configured to implement termination impedance. In a specific embodiment, the first buffer includes an output buffer and the second buffer includes an input buffer.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides an integrated circuit including core logic configured to process data; and a differential interface circuit coupled between the core logic and first and second external terminals that carry data, wherein the differential interface circuit includes a differential buffer coupled to the first and second external terminals and a termination network coupled between the first and second external terminals. The termination network includes first and second transistors coupled in series between the first external terminal and the second external terminal, the first and second transistors having control terminals that couple to programmable control signals. In a specific embodiment the termination network further includes resistors coupled in series with the first and second transistors.
In a further embodiment the present invention provides an integrated circuit including a differential buffer coupled to a first external terminal and a second external terminal and configured to process data when enabled in a differential mode of operation; a first single-ended buffer coupled to the first external terminal and configured to process data when enabled in a single-ended mode of operation; a second single-ended buffer coupled to the second external terminal and configured to process data when enabled in the single-ended mode of operation; and control circuitry coupled to the first and second single-ended buffers and configured to programmably convert the first and the second single-ended buffers into termination impedance for the first and the second external terminals, respectively, when the integrated circuit operates in the differential mode.
The following detailed description and the accompanying drawings provide a better understanding of the nature and advantages of the programmable termination according to the present invention.